ASIA

Registrations are open for the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2022, which will take place from March 21 to 24.Organised by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the symposium is a leading event for broadcasters in the region and beyond.This year’s theme for the event is ‘Evolving Media Workflows’.

The programme will include a conference where speakers will address topics of interest to broadcasters, masterclasses by sponsors on industry issues of their choice and an opportunity for industry partners to highlight their latest products and services.The virtual event is open to Sponsors, Industry Partners, Speakers and Delegates from ABU Members and around the world.Register for the event here. […]

UNESCO calls on all radio stations to celebrate the eleventh edition of World Radio Day,under the theme “Radio and Trust“, on February 13.Proclaimed in 2011 by the Member States of UNESCO, and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day, February 13 became World Radio Day (WRD).Building on more than a century of its history, radio remains one of the most trusted and widely used media.

Throughout the years, radio has provided quick and affordable access to information in real time and professional coverage about matters of public interest, as well as guaranteed distance education and entertainment.Bridging between traditional and state-of-the art technologies, radio now offers a variety of content through different devices and formats, such as podcasts and multimedia websites.Still, not all world citizens believe they get the information they need. Recent world events and the Covid-19 pandemic have eroded trust in the media in general, fuelled by the circulation of false content rapidly spreading on social media.The resulting financial constrains that forced reduction of staff and the loss of advertisement to Internet companies have accelerated declines in news media revenue, including for radio, and raised the costs of verified information, particularly for local radio outlets.This year’s subthemes for World Radio DayTrust in radio journalism: Produce independent and high-quality contentRespecting basic standards of ethical journalism has become challenging in the present high- tempo digital age. However, in order to keep or raise listeners’ trust, journalism must continue to be based on verifiable information that is shared in the public interest, holds the powerful to account and helps society build a better future for all.In this context, editorial independence is essential, as it may show the ability of radio stations to bring news free of influence. Moreover, the understanding of digital technologies and social platforms is key to avoid circulation of unverified information. Investing in fact-checking, investigative journalism and rigorous verification of sources and content are some of the practices radio broadcasters could strengthen to keep audience trust.An informed audience equipped with Media and Information Literacy competencies is also necessary, so that listeners discover, consume, and respond critically to content, and thereby appreciate the quality journalism that the radio station is bringing to them. More and more radio stations are therefore including media and information literacy shows in their programming schedule.Trust and accessibility: Take care of your audienceGaining listeners’ trust implies conveying diversity in all its forms: staff origins, information sources, formats, distribution channels, programming, editorial content, etc. People who feel represented and can access information that is relevant to them may become loyal listeners.However, reaching out to a selected audience group implies serving the informational needs of all listeners and being a catalyst for integration and social participation – including persons with disabilities. Digital radio platforms provide grounds for innovation in the accessibility of content for the latter, such as the use of sign languages or automated subtitles for hearing-impaired audience when streaming, or announcements of content for blind listeners.Furthermore, voice being the main communication resource in radio, stations with the ability to recruit personnel with disabilities, for example blind radio hosts, could let it be known. Their experience could be inspirational for listeners.In terms of diversity, participatory radio such as community radio is likewise important to ensure that communities of interest, especially hard-to-reach, under-represented or diaspora groups, do not feel at the margins of news making and can credit radio with their confidence.Trust and viability of radio stations: Ensure competitivenessHow can radio survive when financial crisis hits the media market? How to transform loyal audience engagement into financial sustainability?This sub-theme links the economic survival of radio stations to their ability to attract and retain a large enough base of loyal listeners to be sustainable or to embed listener interaction into their business models.Most radio stations are small or medium enterprises, when not totally non-profit, and find themselves in dire situation. Even public service broadcasting is facing license fee cut plans and reticence from citizens to pay audio-visual taxes in times of streaming services and Web radio when they can access content otherwise.New funding models are to be researched and discussed, for instance subscriptions, membership models, pay-per-listened content, very local advertisement and other. […]

A group of Malay singers has performed a Chinese New Year (CNY) song with a festive video to welcome the Year of the Tiger.CNY, also known as the Lunar New Year, is believed to be significant to ensure good fortune and prosperity for the coming year and has many religious traditions and beliefs.CNY 2022, the Year of the Tiger will be celebrated on Feb 1. The tiger is considered the symbol of power in Chinese culture.

The four-minute video has garnered over 600,000 views since it premiered on YouTube on January 7.The Bahasa Malaysia song, ‘Dong Dong Qiang’, is a Malay version of the traditional CNY song.It features a number of local artistes including Ayie Floor 88, Harry Khalifah, Sarah Suhairi, Beby Acha, Lia Aziz and Aidilia Hilda and had been produced by MVM Music.Certain Chinese phrases like ‘Dong Dong Qiang’ (traditional Chinese drum sound) and ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ (Wishing you prosperity) are peppered through the song, making it very relatable to the Malaysian Chinese community.The song also incorporates Malay phrases such as ‘Lain bangsa tapi bersama’, ‘Luar kita berbeza, hati tetapkan sama’ (Different race but the same; We’re different on the outside, but have the same heart). […]

Content from BPROriginally published Feb 2021It’s summer, just gone holiday time in the Southern Hemisphere – radio stations mostly have their stars back after backup teams have in place as the main presenters, often the ‘face’ of their station, took a well-earned break.

But what does this say to consumers who may still be in a more normal work and listening environment? Their favourite radio station is on auto-pilot?In many cases these front-line personalities are the main focus of the relationship between listeners and the station – you need to be able to answer the question, ‘what does the brand stand for when the ‘A’ team is away?’Successful radio stations fulfil three essential requirements:
They have clear brand attributes – consumers know and understand what they stand for
They are acquisitive – they attract listening beyond a narrow music or interest group
They ‘bestow status’ – people like it and want to be associated with it.
The new media reality is that radio is now just one of many media choices available for consumers, the choice is often not just about which radio station but it is often about which audio source listeners might choose – music on Spotify, stories on Podcasts etc.At one level Radio competes with Big Tech as a ‘brand choice’ among many others yet at another it’s an intensely personal choice – radio is the one medium that can establish a personal relationship with its listeners yet it seems to be in danger of giving up the very thing that makes it special.Radio still needs to provide primary motivation for listeners to continue to listen and to build a strong relationship between brand and listeners. It needs to identify that link and rekindle the passion.Ask yourself, do your listeners care about your station? Do they care enough to want to be involved in something that your station does?  An event, a fundraiser or other activity?As brand marketing disappears – has visibility for your brand been replaced by short term contest ‘noise’ or a set of faces on a billboard that no-one recognises?To survive and thrive radio and individual radio stations need to re-focus on the key elements that make it an essential part of people’s lives, the things that make it special.Take care of that relationship, once its lost it may be impossible to replace it.Brand passion: a type of consumer–brand relationship whereby consumers exhibit high levels of enthusiasm and desire and is considered the core of the emotional connection between brands and consumers.By Peter Don, BPR […]

The expansion of the ongoing DAB+ trial in Bangkok Thailand was announced at the WorldDAB Technical Group meeting on December 9, 2021. With this development, the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand (NBTC) is set to coordinate the construction of 10 new transmission sites which include both National and Local DAB+ layers.The original DAB+ trials are in Bangkok and the surrounding region and were set up in cooperation with the Royal Thai Army with the objective to establish technical parameters. This expansion will include the areas and cities of Chang Mai in the north, Khonkaen and Nakhon Ratchasima in the northeast, Pattaya and Chonburi adjacent to Bangkok, and Songkhla, Nakhon Thammarat, and the tourist centre of Phuket in the south.NBTC officials indicated: “This is an exciting opportunity to expand the DAB+ coverage from our capital Bangkok into the major regional centres across the country. Not only does this expansion provide the opportunity to test features and educate broadcasters but most importantly to start the journey to attract DAB+ listeners. We intend to embark on a nationwide marketing campaign once we have the transmissions constructed. This project offers both national and regional broadcasters the opportunity to expand their services and coverage and to help ensure a healthy radio environment for the future, one which is both green and competitive”.

WorldDAB president Patrick Hannon expressed his support for Thailand saying: “The expansion of the DAB+ trial is an important step forward for digital radio in Thailand. As the global body responsible for promoting the adoption of DAB+, WorldDAB is always ready to support countries to move forward with deploying DAB+ in any way needed. We very much welcome the Thai initiative and we wish our Thai colleagues every success”.Initial objectives of the trials were to establish network parameters, demonstrate interference-free audio, introduce DAB+ data services, emergency warning system and electronic programme guide and pop-up services. Given the diverse geographic features and urban development in Bangkok and regional areas, the overall aim is to achieve the most beneficial coverage and quality of sound.The NBTC are active members of the WorldDAB APAC Technical Group and regularly provide valuable contributions to the forum. […]

Content from BPROver the years BPR has published many insightful articles on the subjects of music research, playlist management and music programming strategy all of which has laid the foundation for the world’s most successful music driven radio stations. The science is beyond doubt, the results undeniable. Knowing what your audience likes and playing the songs that create and maintain the optimal level of engagement (passion) is what it is all about. It is a grand, universal truth however I have never seen it played out so clearly and eloquently as I did on my own front lawn during the 4 weeks leading up to last Christmas.This is my Christmas story…

My family has always put on a Christmas lights display of some sort however this last year we took it to a new covid-lockdown inspired level. To be clear, I was just one of the roadies in this saga, all the technical and programming expertise comes from Cherie, my wife. To set the seen the scale of this year’s show needs to be mentioned. It involved, 2 servers, 2 digital projectors, 6 PC’s, 39 remote power supplies, 3 network switches, 4 bubble making machines, kilometres of cabling and approximately 20,000 programmable RGB lights commonly known as “pixel nodes”.  All this was sequenced to music and broadcast over a low power FM frequency.The music for the display was carefully selected and represented what I would describe in radio format terms as “The Best Mix of Christmas Classics from Yesterday and Today.”  The display ran for 3 hours each evening from 6:30pm to 9:30pm involving a 1-hour sequence of music which repeated. It was brilliant but there was one problem. We noticed that people only stayed for a song. No one watched the display for any length of time, which after all the hard work involved felt like a bit of let-down.After consulting our consultant (me) we decided to remove what we felt were the weakest songs. This increased the rotation of the remaining songs however we immediately observed that people were now staying around for two to three songs which was better than before but still below our expectation.Inspired by the results of trimming the playlist we now reduced the playlist even further resulting in most people now staying around for a full sequence. Social media started to buzz as those that had seen our display started to talk about it and share videos and photographs. At this point I shook my head and smiled, amazed at how basic music programming theory could apply to something as pedestrian as a suburban Christmas lights display.The final step and what was to become the proverbial icing on the cake was increasing the rotation of the songs that people seemed to like the most.  This resulted in families dancing on our lawn, staying for often two rotations of the display, and leaving hand-written notes of thanks in our letterbox. There were even some people who waited until the end of the evening and applauded.To be fair the music was a backdrop to the amazing visuals however we had gone from fleeting visitations of our display to families picnicking on the sidewalk all because we tightened the playlist and played the hits.I have hundreds of statistical charts that demonstrate the effect of strategic music programming, and I can rave about it for hours if you wish but I doubt anything will ever be as powerful an endorsement as the note left in our letterbox below.By Wayne Clouten, BPR […]